


Reboot

by myotishia



Series: Call of the void [1]
Category: Torchwood
Genre: Gen, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-25
Updated: 2019-12-27
Packaged: 2021-02-26 01:00:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,120
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21944770
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/myotishia/pseuds/myotishia
Summary: A chaotic day to reboot the Torchwood main computer system.
Relationships: Jack Harkness/Ianto Jones, Owen Harper/Toshiko Sato
Series: Call of the void [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1580095
Kudos: 22





	1. Blackout

**Author's Note:**

> New reader? Start right [here](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18551278)

“Why is Jack following you around with a camera?” Gwen asked, looking over at Tosh who was holding up a folder to hide her face.

“My mum wants a new picture of me.”

“And that’s a bad thing, why?”

“I’d prefer that she just had my old photos. It’s been so long since I’ve seen her I don’t know if I want the image she has of me changing.”

“I’m sure she’d just be happy to see you.”

“If that was the only thing I might be convinced but she really wants to see my mysterious partner.”

Elise lent back in her chair. “You should have said, I have a million pics of you and Owen.”

“That’s not… Ugh.” She took off her glasses and rubbed her eyes. “I don’t want to pretend you don’t exist but I don’t think my mum would react very well.”

“I don’t mind.”

“But **I** do. She’ll be upset if I don’t send her anything, but I’ll be upset if I lie to her. It’s a nightmare and Jack I swear if you keep on like that I’ll make sure your internet access is limited to videos of the teletubbies and nothing else.”

He placed the camera down. “You wouldn’t.”

“Would you like to risk that?”

“Fine. Just find a picture you’re happy with and I can send that. It doesn’t have to be new but she’s your mom and I think she’ll know.”

“Alright. I’ll see what I can find… In the meantime I’ll need to reboot the whole system tonight. It should only take a couple of hours to update but it’ll still need restarting.”

“How long will it be out?” He looked suddenly concerned.

“Five minutes max. Everything has to be off at the same time for it to work. I’ve been putting it off since last year with gradual reboots but I can’t put it off any longer.”

“I wish I’d known sooner.”

“I told you last week, and the notice has been at the top of your screen for two.”

He walked into his office and checked his monitor. “Huh… How did I miss that? Ok. If we can’t put it off any longer then we’ll just have to deal with it.”

“Why is that a problem?” Asked Gwen. “Haven’t you done reboots before?”

Tosh put her glasses back on. “We haven’t done a whole system shutdown and reboot for three years. Last time there were rift anomalies popping up all over the city as the rift manipulator is connected to the system. I hope this time it’s settled enough that we won’t have a repeat.”

“We had a pirate ship materialise in the bay, complete with crew.” Jack said cheerfully, as if beginning one of his usual stories. “The whole thing had to be quarantined.”

“Luckily the rift took it back before any damage was done.”

“The captain wasn’t so bad. He was a showman if nothing else.”

“I heard he tried to stab you.”

“A lot of people I’ve met have, but at least he tried with a little style.” 

She couldn’t contain her smile. “And the Lion we found in the park?”

“Romulus loves his enclosure at the zoo. I think they got him a mate. He could have his own pride by now.”

“I can keep the rift from throwing stuff around for a few minutes.” Elise noted. “Not sure I want to round up a lion… Or a pirate ship.”

“Hopefully you won’t need to. Good to know we have a backup plan though.”

Tosh stood, stretching. “And I really hope we won’t have to deal with Seaview again.”

“Seaview?” Gwen sipped her coffee, realising she’d almost let it go cold. 

Jacks smile faded. “Seaview is a hospital that shouldn’t exist. It appears sometimes after a large rift event. The sign above the main door says it was built in eighteen ninety two but we can’t find any record of it. No hospital of that design was built or opened in that year.”

“Please tell me that place isn’t back.” Ianto said as he walked in from upstairs.

“No, but Gwen and Elise have never heard about it before.”

“Thank god. That place and everything that’s ever touched it is  _ wrong _ .” He shuddered.

Tosh plopped back down in her chair, the soreness in her spine easing to nothing. “And that’s the strangest part. There’s nothing physically wrong with the building, any items in it or even any of the people there. They’re just going about their day but I agree that none of it feels quite right.”

“There’s a whole room in the first sub basement archive full of things that have been collected from that place since it first appeared.”

“It stays for between three and six days and then it’s gone along with anything inside.”

“And anyone inside from the reports I’ve seen.”

Jack nodded. “You can come and go, no problem, but those who are in there when it goes are never seen again. From what I’ve seen the place almost resets. The same people are there each time, doing the same things they were the time before and the time before that. First we thought it was just stuck in a time loop but we’ve looked into every name we could get for the people inside but none of them ever existed. None. Now we just cordon the area off and keep a careful watch over it. No one goes in and no one leaves.”

“That sounds more like a parallel universe kind of thing.” Elise flinched at how everyone stared at her. “What?”

“Not even the rift connects to other dimensions.”

“We get shards of scattered bits of space and time, is it so much of a stretch to think that something from another dimension chipped off and got stuck because it had nowhere to go back to. Who knows, maybe it’s something from my original timeline.”

He blinked in a mix of confusion and existential dread. “I don’t even want to think about that possibility. Feel free to go and take a look at the stuff we’ve got from there.” 

“I think I’ll pass for now. If there’s nothing urgent going on then I wouldn’t mind going on a snack run for later. Any requests?” 

“Ooh, get some more of that cake we had at the weekend.” Tosh smiled. 

“Can do. Gwen?”

Gwen shook her head. “I’ll skip this one. I can only cry baby weight for so long and I think that deadline had already passed.”

“Don’t be silly. Any weight you’re carrying is muscle from lifting an ever growing child. Soooo, snacks?”

“Fine but if I put on even a single pound this week I’m blaming you. Just see what you can find.”

“So, all the things. Gotcha. Jack, any of your snack stashes running low?”

“Stashes? I don’t know what you mean.” He said with the most innocent look he could muster.

“The mars bars you have hidden in the third folder back in your filing cabinet don’t need topping up then.”

“Yes, and how do you know?”

“I guessed… And I found them when I was helping file paperwork the other day. I didn’t take any, promise.”

Ianto interjected while Jack seemed to be considering moving that particular stash. “I’ll come with you if you don’t mind. I have a few things to pick up as well if it’s going to be a late one.”

“Ok. Let me go ask Owen and I’ll be with you.” She smiled and rushed off to find her boyfriend who’d been hiding in the autopsy bay all day after the rats had escaped the night before. He blamed stumpy. 

“Tosh, what time are you planning for the reboot?”

Tosh turned, wondering why he was keeping his voice down. “Just after ten. It’s better than in the early hours of tomorrow morning in case we get a delayed reaction. Do you have plans?”

“No. No, it’s just Elise has never experienced the rift without a buffer and if things go wrong I want to be on hand to help.”

“You think it’ll go wrong?”

“There’s always a possibility. I don’t want to have to sprint from the archives.”

“I wouldn’t suggest being down there during the reboot anyway. We had a problem with the doors last time.”

“What kind of problem?”

“The sensors got a little scrambled and didn’t know if they should be sealed or not so they went with opening and closing repeatedly until I worked out the bug. Some of the old fixtures don’t communicate with the newer technology very well.”

“That sounds like an average Wednesday.”

“Are you joking or are the doors actually doing that?”

“First Wednesday of each month. That’s why deliveries are usually booked for that day so I can avoid it.”

“Why didn’t you report it?”

“I do once a year but the problem gets fixed for a month then starts again. I assume it’s just a quirk of working down there.”

“I’ll see what I can do.”

“Maybe you can appease it with another offering corner.”

“What happened last time you took the dinosaur figures from the server room?”

“Tosh you’re a woman of science.”

“If it takes plastic dinosaurs to keep the servers running smoothly then I’ll be just a little bit superstitious.”

Elise reappeared holding a small tank with a white rat inside. She was suppressing a grin as she closed the door behind her. 

“He finally caught Stumpy.”

“Stumpy is lucky to be alive. Guess where he was.”

“Don’t tell me he was hiding inside the machinery down there?”

“Nope. Stumpy was sleeping in Owens lab coat while the rest of the males ran around getting into everything. I’ve been told to get him out of the room, in so many words.”

“How many could be repeated in polite company?” 

“Three at most. The rest I’m not completely sure were all in English.”

“Well, he does know how to swear in twelve different languages.”

“Only twelve?”

“Knowing a single word doesn’t count.”

“Right, well I’m going to leave this little guy here.” She placed the tank down on Owens desk. “He shouldn’t be able to get out this time but just in case.” She placed a heavy paperweight on top of the lid. “There. Back soon.” 

Elise shrugged. “You’re worried over nothing. The rift manipulator’s hardware so it’ll only be out for a few seconds.”

“I’d rather be too careful and have nothing happen than not worry and have you suddenly drop dead.” Ianto said flatly, he opened his mouth to continue before pausing. Seeing someone he recognised in the street. He wasn’t sure if now was the best time for a conversation but the decision was taken from him as Rhiannon saw him. She smiled and approached.

“Ianto.” She beamed. “On lunch?”

“Yes, what are you up to?”

“I had to pick up a couple of halloween costumes for the kids. They’re having a big trick or treating thing at school.”

“Kids and sugar, good luck to the teachers.”

Elise smiled politely, staying one step out of the conversation.

“So, are you going to introduce me?” Asked Rhiannon.

He realised he hadn’t even mentioned his friend. “Oh, yea, this is Elise. Elise , this is my sister Rhiannon.”

“It’s nice to finally meet you. I hope he isn’t too much trouble.” She offered her hand to shake and Elise took it with a smile.

“Not at all. I think I’m more trouble than he ever could be.” A sudden boom interrupted them and sent a shooting pain up from Elises left arm. She clutched at the ring where it was connected as the air filled with the sound of car alarms.

“What was that?!” Rhiannon asked, looking around at the chaos from those around her. Though nothing seemed damaged directly there seemed to be a power outage. Traffic lights, shop signs, even mobile phones were dead. 

“EMP?”

Ianto glanced at his sister as he was essentially holding Elise steady as her brain tried to fully reconnect to her arm. “Electro magnetic pulse.”

“Yes I know that smartarse, I watch tv.” Rhiannon rolled her eyes. 

Elise closed her eyes to centre herself. “Must be high tech to create a pulse like that without vaporising everything around it.”

“Are you going to be ok? What happened?”

“I’ll be fine once my arm reconnects. I could do with checking there isn’t any damage to it but I can’t do that on the street.”

“Reconnects?”

“Didn’t he tell you about my robot arm?” The pain was starting to subside, replaced by a cold numbness. 

“Oh christ. I’m sorry I forgot.”

“No problem. I’ll take it as a compliment you didn’t notice.”

Ianto scanned the area, seeing something slowly descending from the sky. It wasn’t a ship, thankfully, but the way it moved made it seem like it was looking for something. “We shouldn’t be on the street. It’s going to get chaotic as more people panic.” He reasoned, hoping Elise would realise what he was trying to do. The team wouldn’t be able to miss the EMP and he didn’t want to be around if another was set off. He tensed up as a red light filled the area, projected by the drone.

“Multiple targets identified.” Came a digitised voice, the drone turning to face Ianto directly. The sides of the robot opened and something glowed from inside. 

“Run!”

“What was that?” Gwen asked.

Tosh was already furiously tapping away at her keyboard. “An EMP. Most of the city is without power. I’m just pinning down the source now… It came from the outer atmosphere and it looks like it was covering the entry of a small cluster of drones. Even our cameras were knocked out by the pulse so I have no idea what they look like, but from what I see here they are most likely military grade.”

“What kind of weaponry are they carrying?” Jack was already pulling on his coat and getting ready to go out and bring the drones down. 

“Electrical pulse guns, nerve suppression webbing, it’s all set to be non lethal. Jack, the coordinates these drones were sent to … It’s exactly where Ianto and Elise are.”

“Think the EMP will have knocked out coms?”

“Theirs? Yes. We have no way of contacting them.”

“Just like the bad old days. Can you track those drones?”

“I’ll send everything over to the satnav in the SUV. They seem to be converging on one position and sending back a message to a small ship.”

“Keep us posted if that ship moves. We’re going to go and shoot down some drones.” 

Rhiannon was used to running after kids, not running away from flying metal beach balls that shot laser beams. She’d stumbled before Ianto had grabbed her hand and started just pulling her along. When had he started exercising? There was no way he could have kept this up without going to the gym after a day sitting in an office. Maybe it was having a boyfriend? Trying to keep in shape for the sake of a lover wasn’t unheard of of Ianto always seemed the type to love someone for loving him just the way he was. She was brought back from her thoughts as she was pulled through a door and into what looked like a very sparse home. Elise closed and locked the door, pulling a heavy security bar down to barricade them in. 

“Where are we?” Rhiannon gasped, catching her breath and leaning against the wall.

Ianto and Elise shared a glance, neither sure what they should say. 

“What kind of place has a door like that? What was that floating thing shooting at us? Why was it shooting at us? Why aren’t you panicking?!” She didn’t know whether to be angry or terrified that her brother and his friend were very calm. 

Ianto sighed. “Rhi listen. I can’t explain everything but I can tell you this is a safe-house.”

“Safe-house? Are you in trouble? Is someone after you?”

“No and other than that drone, no one’s after me.”

“Ok, you need to start explaining what’s going on right now!” 

“I can’t.”

Elise sat down on the carpet and pulled off her coat, pulling up her sleeve to examine her metal arm. “You may as well tell her. At this point we’re far beyond just saying we don’t know.” She opened the small maintenance panel in her arm and winced. “I need to check in here more often. Some of the fires have worn away. Do you have your little sewing kit on you?”

He handed her the small packet containing needles and thread. “I… I work for Torchwood.”

“Torchwood? What is that?” Rhiannon frowned, crossing her arms.

“Torchwood deals with all of the strange stuff that happens around here. We do what the police and the government can’t.” 

“So, you’re a spy now? Pull the other one.”

“Not a spy. I deal with aliens.”

She studied him and began to laugh. “This is a weird joke.”

“It isn’t a joke. I’ve been working for them for a long time.”

“But… Oh you’re not joking, are you? Have you lost your mind?”

“I know it sounds crazy but-”

“Crazy? It’s ridiculous. There’s no such thing as aliens.”

“What about what happened in London? The daleks? The cybermen? Everyone saw that.”

“That was a terrorist attack.”

He didn’t often raise his voice but being told by his own sister that what he’d suffered through was something so simple hit a nerve. “It wasn’t a bloody terrorist attack. I was there! My workmates, my friends, slaughtered right in front of me. Not by human beings but by aliens!”

“Ianto…” Her voice was soft, worried. “We should get you to a hospital. Something’s very wrong. I’m here for you, ok?”

Elise had wanted to let them talk it out but she needed to diffuse the situation. “Rhiannon? He’s telling the truth. I can prove it to you.”

“I know my own brother!” She snapped.

“I’m sure you do but this is exactly why he didn’t tell you.”

“This is ridiculous.”

Elise turned her arm to show the blue, almost flesh like, wires that ran through the metal appendage. “You see this? This in here wasn’t originally from here. Humans haven’t developed anything even close to what these fibres can do. They are part of me. A computer that can heal. It can connect a human body to something like my arm here.”

“So, it’s fancy and high tech. That doesn’t mean it’s from another planet.”

“If you don’t believe that then maybe this will convince you.” She teleported to the other end of the hallway.

Rhiannon clamped her hands over her mouth in shock, looking to Ianto for some sign that this was real. He looked tired and melancholy. “How… How did she do that?”

“She teleported. Do you believe me now?” He asked, almost pleading. 

“But that means… Oh god… I’m so sorry.” Tears began to fall down her face. If what he’d said was true then he’d gone through so much and she hadn’t been there to support him. She pulled him into a tight hug. “I’m sorry. I… This is too much…” 

He returned the hug, wishing he’d been able to say something before. He knew she’d have to be retconned later but just knowing that she cared that much was nice for now. She had been the one person in his life that he’d hated lying to. He knew she wouldn’t have believed him but it still hurt to hide as much as he had. Elise smiled sympathetically, slipping into the living room to give them a moment. Her arm was back to functioning but her phone and earpiece were both still out of action. A line of red light shone through the window, seen just under the hem of the blackout curtains. The drone wasn’t giving up. It knew where they were and it was just scanning for a weak point to get in. A crash from upstairs told her they’d found one. When she ran back Ianto was already half way up the stairs, gun drawn and ready to take the drone out. He fired twice, denting the shell of the drone and cracking the central lens before one of the electrical pulses threw him down to the bottom landing. He could still feel the muscles in his back spasming painfully as he looked up to where the drone was floating. The things were bulletproof because of course they were. Elise took her blade from her belt and switched it on, the semi transparent blade sending small wisps of black mist up from its edge. She kicked off the wall and leapt over the banister, swiping through the centre of the drone. It dropped in two pieces, clattering loudly onto the wooden steps. 

“You ok down there?” She asked, looking over her shoulder as she caught one of the large chunks. 

Rhiannon was already helping Ianto up as he grumbled. “I’ll live. Is there any sign of who it belongs to?”

“Not that I can see. One sec, let me see if my wrist comp is still alive and kicking.” She tapped one of the small buttons on the face of the vortex manipulator and the screen flickered to life. It showed a popup about the electro magnetic pulse, as if that was helpful now, then returned to its usual menu screen. She set it to look for any kind of communications signal and scrolled down the list. The strongest came from the drone that still circled the building. She used it to send a message to whoever had sent them, asking who they were and what they wanted. 

The centre of town was chaos. Multiple collisions had made the roads impossible to traverse so the team had to continue on foot. Not exactly easy when you were carrying very conspicuous weaponry. Gwen had given the police a heads up so they didn’t have to deal with an armed unit turning up to get in the way. Most people who had been on the street had retreated as the shops had closed in the blackout. 

Tosh called over coms. “I’ve just intercepted a message being sent to the ship but it was from Elises wrist comp.”

“No EMP is going to take down a vortex manipulator. What did she send?” Asked Jack.

“She asked who the drones belonged to and what they want. The message originated to the town safe house.”

“That makes sense if they’ve been targeted.”

“Targeted?”

“Bounty hunters. That’s why the drones have non lethal weapons.”

“I’ll keep trying to access the ships computers.”

“Thanks Tosh.” He spotted another drone descending on the safe-house. He’d stayed there a couple of times in the past, usually with someone he was charged with protecting. That said, he’d never ended up sleeping in the second bedroom. “Let’s bring these things down to earth.” He smiled.

Gwen and Owen nodded, aiming their rifles at the floating robots who were concentrating on the house. The metal orbs crashed down under the command of a mass of armour piercing bullets. 

“I don’t know about you but this feels a bit too easy.” Gwen commented, knocking a piece of the round shell of one of the drones back towards the rest of it. 

“These are just scouts. I doubt the one who sent them is going to be so easy to take down.”

Iantos back was aching but the bruising was already healing so he couldn’t complain too much. Rhiannon looked as if she wanted to fuss over him but what she’d been told was still settling. Elise handed her a cup of tea and held out one for Ianto too. 

“Are you both doing ok?” She asked, sitting on the carpet in front of them as if there wasn’t an armchair right behind her. Ianto nodded. 

Rhiannon sipped her tea. “So… Are you an alien?”

“Me? No. No I’m human. I know it doesn’t seem like it but I promise I am.”

“How did you teleport?”

“It’s a long story. Just go with future weirdness mixed with a really complex scar pattern.” She showed the back of her right hand, specifically the symbol that had faded from pink to a light white/silver over time.

“Future?”

“Yea. What we deal with spans over space and time.”

She sipped her tea again. “You said you met Jack at work so… He’s part of this Torchwood too?”

“He is.” He nodded. 

The sound of gunfire made them all jump and Elise ran to the front door, peeking through the peephole. She pulled up the bar and unlocked the door.

“Good to see you.” She smiled. 

Jack beamed. “Glad you’re in one piece. Thought you might need a little heavy artillery.”

“Always appreciated… Um… Before you come in I need to give you a heads up.”

“Is Ianto ok?” 

“Yea, he’s fine. We met his sister in town and… Well…” 

Gwen nudged him in the arm. “Ready to meet the family?”

“When we find this bounty hunter, remind me to punch them.” He sighed deeply before wandering into the house. 

Ianto looked up, mouthing ‘sorry’. Rhiannon looked up at the handsome man that looked like he’d walk right out of a war film and had a smile that screamed hollywood. 

“Hi, I’m Captain Jack Harkness. It’s nice to finally meet you.” Jack offered his hand to shake. 

She took it firmly. “I’m Rhiannon… Not to be rude but I have a duty as his older sister. If you break his heart I am going to break your face.” She had a surprisingly strong grip and fire in her eyes. 

“I wouldn’t dream of it.”

“Good.” She finally let go, the fire ebbing slightly. “So… Aliens then.”

He chuckled softly. “Yea. Aliens… Ianto, a word?”

The welshman stood to follow him, giving his sister a reassuring smile as he went. In the kitchen Jack lent against the counter, letting the charming mask slip. 

“This wasn’t planned you know. I tried my best to keep things quiet.” Ianto said.

“I’m not blaming you.”

“You’re not?”

“No. You were out on a snack run. This just shouldn’t have happened.”

“So, what now?”

“We take these drones back to be taken apart and hope either Elise or Tosh get a message back from whoever’s up there… And you know what we have to do about-”

“Yes, I know. I know.”

“It’s not personal.”

“I know. It’s ok. I’ll take her home and make sure everything goes back to normal. I’m just glad she wasn’t hurt.”

Jack was about to comment when he heard Toshiko on coms. “The ship is speeding to your location. I’m getting no reply from my multiple attempts to contact the pilot. I even took control of their communications system but they’re ignoring me. Would you like me to shut the ship down?”

“Let me speak to them first. If they don’t play ball then you can go ahead and have fun. For now just take out their weapons.”

“Consider it done.”

“Thanks… Right, Ianto, make sure your sister stays inside. I can’t stop her seeing the ship landing but I don’t want her getting hurt.”

Ianto nodded. “Of course sir. And thank you for being polite. I know Rhi can be abrasive.”

“Sorry? No, I like her.” He grinned.

“Jack, don’t you dare start or I swear-”

“I like anyone who’s looking out for you. And you both have beautiful eyes.”

“Jack!” 

The small ship descended, not having enough space to fully land, and a hatch opened on the side. A pair of bulky, rhinoceros headed, beings jumped down.

“Gentlemen.” Jack boomed, hands up as to ensure they didn’t shoot him on sight. “I certainly didn’t expect judoon bounty hunters. Seems a little illegal in most places for you.”

One huffed, a cloud of hot breath swirling up from its nostrils. “We are not bounty hunters! We follow the law.”

“Then why are you here? And why did you potentially cause the deaths of multiple innocent people?”

“We have been asked to bring you to justice. Come quietly.”

“I’m not really a fan of coming quietly. Anyway, what have we been accused of exactly?” 

“False imprisonment, murder, kidnapping and grievous bodily harm.”

“You mean the bounty hunters that attacked us? Everything we did was in self defence.”

“You have proof?”

“Elise, mind showing these officers your shoulder where the bounty hunter stabbed you?” 

Elise walked over to the large creatures and pulled down the neck of her shirt to show the pink scar. “I was holding a baby at the time. I showed restraint by letting my attacker live.”

The two judoon studied her shoulder then turned to each other, speaking in their own language. After what could have been a calm conversation or a heated debate, it was hard to tell, they turned back to speak to Jack.

“What happened to the others?”

The captain gestured for Elise to go back inside. “They ran into some unfriendly wildlife. None of us can be held accountable for that. If any of what we’ve been accused of was true then we wouldn’t have allowed that lizard to leave, with a body guard to prevent further harm.”

“His guard killed six people.”

“We’re not responsible for his actions. He’s a free agent.” Jack would have to punch John next time he saw him. “Is there anything else you have to accuse us of?”

The judoon lowered their weapons. “We will return and make sure the lizard is held for his crimes. You are free to go.” They turned and grabbed onto a line that had been thrown down from the ship. Once inside, the ship closed and shot away to Jacks relief. Judoon were proverbial tanks and you did not want to get into a fight with one. Thankfully they loved rules and were pretty easy to talk round if you knew what you were doing. He shook his head and chuckled at how he could have sorted things out before all the damage had been done if they’d just contacted him directly. Owen picked up one of the broken drones. 

“That could have gone worse.”

“Just put those inside. I think the snack run’s going to take a bit longer than we expected.”

“What are we doing about the rest of the city?”

“Electrical storm that caused the blackout. None of our business.”

“Sounds good to me.” 

Rhiannon glanced at the clock, hardly able to believe it was only two o’clock, as Ianto placed a coffee in front of her. “Thanks.”

“It doesn’t feel real, does it?”

“What?”

“Earlier. Everything that happened.”

“Yea, I suppose.” She sipped her coffee and smiled as the warmth spread through her. “I just can’t believe that you’re some secret agent fighting aliens.”

“I stay in the office most of the time. I fight paperwork more than aliens.” 

“You know if it wasn’t a secret you could be the coolest uncle in the world.”

He chuckled softly. 

“I’m serious. So, what are you doing this afternoon?”

“We’re doing a computer reboot tonight. It’s not that interesting.”

“I’m going to worry about you, you know. Out there, facing god knows what.”

He stared at his reflection in his own drink. “It’ll be ok.”

“Just make sure you’re as safe as you can be, yea? I don’t think I could handle one of your friends coming to my door to tell me I’ll never see you again because of some little green man.”

“I promise that’ll never happen.”

She reached over and placed her hand on his. “There’s so much I’ve missed about you and I’m sorry. I’m sorry I didn’t notice. I’m sorry I didn’t believe you.”

“It’s ok. Really, it is.” He ran his thumb over her fingers. “I’m in a good place right now.”

“You know you can tell me whatever you need to. I’ll be here for you even if I have no idea what you’re talking about.” She smiled softly.

“I know… Finish your drink and I’ll try and break everything down for you. I’ll tell you everything that happened.” 

She tucked her feet up on the sofa, suddenly very tired. He took the empty mug from her hand and took it to the kitchen, washing both in the sink before drying them and putting them away as if he’d never been there. She was out cold before he got back. Her memories would be completely gone by the time she woke up so at least she wouldn’t have to worry about him. He placed the throw that had been draped over the back of the sofa over her legs so she didn’t get cold before leaving. He sighed deeply as he closed himself in his car, closing his eyes for a moment to try and brush away the guilt from having to retcon his own sister. She’d be fine, he knew, but it still felt wrong. He needed to get back to help put away those drones before the reboot but all he wanted to do was go home and block out the world for a bit. No such luck. 


	2. Seaview

Ianto returned to find Owen and Jack carrying Toshikos chair away from her desk, with her still in it. She’d refused to take a break even though technically she could have taken a half day and come back later to deal with the reboot. Gwen waved Ianto over and held up a small cake box.

“We kept some for you. Are you ok?”

He took the box and nodded softly. “I will be. I thought you would have all gone home to rest before tonight.”

“Well, Tosh said she had some last minute checks to do and neither Owen or Elise are going to leave without her. I’m just here for the cake.” She grinned. “And the show.”

“Guys, put me down. I’ll only be a few more minutes.” Tosh squeaked, holding on for dear life.

Owen shook his head. “You said that an hour ago, and half an hour ago, and ten minutes ago.”

“But-”

“No, it’s break time now. That’s an order.” Jack said sternly, though his tone was softened greatly by the cheeky grin on his face. “Gwen’s been defending the last pieces of cake for you and Ianto, and I’m not almost getting my hand bitten off for nothing.”

“Fine, fine, you can put me down now.” Tosh sighed. “I just want to be sure everything will go off without a hitch. We so rarely reboot the rift manipulator.”

“The world didn’t end before it was built so I think we’ll be ok for a few seconds.”

“It’s become more volatile since then. I’ve been running a few simulations and there’s a small possibility that when the manipulator stops actively holding certain parts of the rift together it could tear further.”

“Elise has already volunteered to help stop that happening.”

“But she’s never done anything on that scale before. Even the rift incisions she’s made are microscopic compared to this.”

“Tosh-”

“Maybe if I can start now I can find a way of rebooting everything else around it, but then I’ll have to find another way of fixing the blind spot in the sensor array and everything’s already queued up and -”

“Toshiko.”

“Hmm?”

“You’re overthinking this.”

She was in no way convinced but conceded that it was too late to go back and change it now. 

“Now, where did Elise wander off to?”

Gwen handed Tosh her cake. “I think she went to take a look at the Seaview stuff we were talking about earlier. She said she wanted to keep her mind off the possibility of her phone being fried.”

The Torchwood sub basements weren’t exactly the friendliest places to be. They were generally dark, cold and unnervingly quiet. The first sub basement had modern lighting so it wasn’t too difficult to navigate. In the far corner was a room labeled simply ‘Seaview’. Elise pulled on some gloves as she entered, very much aware that though the items seemed completely normal it didn’t mean they couldn’t suddenly try and kill her. She was presented with a room lined with shelves filled with miscellaneous items commonly found in a hospital. A box of clipboards, complete with patient charts, sat to her right. She pulled one out to read and had to admit she did feel something faint run through her fingers upon contact with the thing. The patient had been admitted to Seaview after almost drowning. He was brought in on the third of May nineteen sixty two and had no memory of his own name, age or where he was from. She placed the chart back into its box and took another. A female in her mid twenties admitted after a car accident in April nineteen sixty two. Her right leg was broken in three places. She said her name was Mary but had no idea of her last name. Elise put that chart back and took one more. A male admitted with partial amnesia. He knew his name, Henry Arthur Tomson, and he was convinced he was sixteen years old but he was clearly in his late thirties. All had memory issues. She placed the chart back and looked at the filing notes written on the side of the box. Each of the charts she had chosen had been collected during different appearances of Seaview. Maybe that’s why it hadn’t been noticed. Then again, maybe it had. The case file was a bit of a mess. No one wanted to touch anything to do with Seaview. Something fell from the shelf at the opposite side of the room.

“Hello?” She called, as if anyone could have got in without passing her. It must be rats. She’d have to ask Ianto about setting some traps. Crossing the room she picked up the fallen item, a baseball. It looked relatively new but had no markings to say what company had made it or where. She placed it back on the shelf, feeling a little light headed all of a sudden. It was dusty and the air was dry so maybe that was getting to her. Being tired from the failed snack run probably wasn’t helping. A few shelves down a set of books fell to the floor. Two were medical journals but one looked more like a diary, its pages covered in scribbles that, from far away, looked like words but on closer inspection were just jumbles of letters in the vague form of sentences. The medical journals were the same, but only on the inside, the outer covers written in perfect English. They were more like props than actual books found in a hospital. A knock at the door made her jump. She turned to see Ianto enter. 

“You’re back. How did it go?” She asked with a smile.

“Rhi fell asleep on the sofa just before I left. I think I’m ok.”

“That’s good.”

“Have you found anything? You’ve been down here for hours.”

“What? I only just got here.”

“It’s past six. We were thinking about dinner.”

“Six? I…” She rubbed her head, the dizziness returning. “This stuff really does make you feel wrong, doesn’t it.”

“You’ve managed to stay here longer than I ever have. I can barely stand ten minutes.”

“It’s all odd. I mean the books are gibberish and all the charts talk about memory problems… And I swear something was knocking stuff off the shelves.” 

“Are you ok? You’re swaying a bit there.” He darted forwards to catch her as her knees buckled. He lifted her into his arms and headed towards the lift. 

“Ianto… Where… Where am I?”

“You’re in the hub. Just stay with me, ok? My earpiece still needs repairing so I can’t call up to get Owen to meet us at the lift, but everything’s going to be fine. Ok?”

“My head.” She murmured, falling limp.

Owen studied Elises readings carefully, looking for anything that could have caused her to suddenly pass out. 

“And you’re sure she didn’t hit her head earlier.”

Ianto nodded. “For the sixth time, I’m positive. It was something in the room. It has to be.”

“Not one of those things down there could do anything like this.”

“She said the charts all had memory issues in common and the books were gibberish inside.”

“Have you checked?”

“Jack’s down there now.”

Elise stirred, whimpering lightly. 

“Take it easy.” Owen said softly, pulling over a chair.

She blinked her unfocused eyes. “Where am I?”

“The med bay. You passed out.”

“I… Med bay? I don’t understand.” She rolled her head to look at him. “I’m sorry, who are you?”

He raised an eyebrow. “Elise? Where do you think you are?”

“Um… Hospital I guess.”

“Can you remember what year it is?”

“Twenty twenty nine.”

“And how old are you?”

“Nineteen. Did I pass out at work? Please don’t call my parents.”

“I promise I won’t.”

“They’re going to be so pissed.”

“Don’t worry about that. Just take it easy, ok?”

She nodded softly, letting her mind take in her surroundings. They kind of looked medical but they didn’t look like any hospital she’d ever been to. “Um… Doctor? Am I still in Cardiff?”

“Yea. And just call me Owen.” He looked up to Ianto who looked very worried. “Can you update Jack and get Gwen down here?”

Ianto nodded and left, Elise noticing him for the first time. 

“Have we met before? I feel like I should recognise you.” She said, attempting a kind of small talk. 

“That’s good. We’ve met, yea. Can you think of where you saw me last?”

“Umm…” After a long pause she seemed to get something. “Did I meet you by the bay? I remember water and bright, lit up words. By the memorial garden. Why was I crying?”

Gwen rushed in, interrupting her thoughts. 

Owen frowned. “Gwen, I thought it might be an idea for you to be here while Elise gets her thoughts together.”

“Do you know me?” Elise asked, her eyes wide and her growing anxiety clear. 

Gwen, ever the sensitive and caring type, moved to Elises right side and held her hand. “I do. And don’t you worry, yea?”

“Did I hit my head? Everything feels really fuzzy.”

“Not exactly. We’re still trying to work out what happened.”

“I was telling Owen that I thought I should recognise him.”

“That’s great. You’ll be on the mend in no time.” She gave a reassuring smile. “Is there anything you’d like? Tea? Coffee?”

“Um… Tea would be nice.”

“Ok. I’ll be right back, so you just rest.” She nodded, trotting out as if nothing was wrong. 

Owen rolled his eyes as his backup disappeared. He needed to concentrate. 

“I like your badges.” Elise said, pulling his attention. She was smiling like she did when she woke up on a Saturday morning. It made his heart ache.

“Thanks. You bought a couple of them.”

“I did? So, we’re friends then.”

“Friends… Yea.” He pretended to read his tablet screen so she couldn’t see his face. 

Tosh peeked around the door. “Um… Can I come in?”

“Yea. Don’t tell me you’ve got amnesia too.”

“What? No. I fixed Elises phone and Gwen said she thought it might help.” She walked round and handed the phone to Elise, hoping to see some kind of recognition in her eyes.

No recognition but she did blush pretty brightly. “Um… Th-thanks.”

“I’m sure you’ll remember soon. I’ll be just past that door if you need anything.” Her words weren’t just directed at Elise. Owen nodded, not looking back. Tosh paused, wanting to comfort both of them but not sure if it would make things worse. Elises heart rate spiking made Owen turn to see Elise staring at her metal hand.

“M-my hand… What happened to my hand?” She gasped, pulling up her sleeve to see just how far the metal went. 

Tosh placed her hand on Elises. “It’s ok. It’s ok. Elise, listen, we’ll explain everything.” She soothed.

“What is all this?!” She pushed past and sprinted out of the door, stopping in the main area of the hub. Fear and confusion washing over her. The earth shook and sirens began to blare as the rift reacted. It only made things worse, black veins rising on her skin. 

Owen pulled her back, pressing the injector he’d palmed against her neck. “Shhh. It’s ok. Just take it easy.”

“No!” She cried out before the sedative started to work. Her thrashing slowed as they both sunk to the floor, Owen holding her close and stroking her hair. The alarms faded and the ground stopped shaking. Tosh knelt with them, her forehead pressed against Elises.

“I’m sorry.” She whimpered as Owen pulled her into the hug too. 

Jack frowned deeply as he watched Tosh, holding Elises phone and flicking through photos, calmly explaining when each was taken to a mostly sedated Elise. 

Owen gestured for Jack to speak with him out of earshot. 

“What’s going on?” The captain asked.

“The good news is this seems to be temporary. The weird feeling we got from the items is low level Laxorich wing spore poisoning. Three hours breathing that shit in will mess with anyones head. Any of us would feel the effects quickly enough to walk out but the symptoms are similar to the background aches that Elise gets anyway, so she didn’t notice.”

“How didn’t we catch this before?”

“My theory is that the amount on each item is small enough to fly under the radar. Put everything together in a badly ventilated room and you end up with this. The Laxorich were only discovered five years ago, so most of that collection was brought down before there was anything to test it against. The spores are hard to detect if you don’t know what you’re looking for anyway.” 

“That’s why we could never find a trace of Seaview.” Jack sighed deeply. 

“Eh?”

“The Laxorich have a bit of an obsession with human culture. Specifically our TV. Everything in Seaview was set up like a hospital drama. The same people doing the same things every time.”

“Like a repeat.”

“Yea. They developped human cloning years ago and just use them for entertainment. Each clone only lasts for a week before dying. Whatever links the place to here must die off quickly too. How temporary do you think this’ll be? I’m guessing it’s too much to ask that she be back to normal before ten.”

“Fuck knows. This is Elise we’re talking about. I’m going to slowly decrease the sedation and see how she reacts. As long as she stays calm everything’ll be fine. Gwen says she’ll take over in a bit so Tosh can concentrate on the reboot, if Tosh’ll let her.”

“You’re calmer than I expected.”

“It’s Elise. She’s a walking disaster but I’m starting to think she might be indestructible.”

“Huh, I always thought the same about you.” Jack smirked. “I’m glad the sedative worked.”

Owen sighed. “Yea… Me too. There is one thing I've been working on... You know what, never mind.”

"Owen?"

"It's nothing. Leave it."

Gwen wandered down to take over from Tosh, trying to jog Elises memory. She still felt bad for leaving just before Elise realised she had a metal arm and panicked. Tosh placed Elises phone down. 

“Hi. Eli’s starting to remember and she can talk a little now so just try and remind her who everyone is and just keep talking. I’ll be back in a little bit, ok?” Tosh smiled softly, brushing Elises hair back and away from her face. She reluctantly left and Gwen sat in her place. 

“So, how are you feeling?” 

Elise sleepily turned her gaze to Gwen. “I’m a bit confused but ok.”

“As long as you’re comfortable.”

“You know what isn’t fair?”

“What?”

“Everyone here’s so cute and I’m a potato… A drugged up potato… I’m a baked potato.”

She snorted, trying and failing to suppress her laughter. “You’re not a potato.”

“I’m a potato with legs… You’re my friend, right?”

“I am. Do you remember my name?” 

“Um… Sorry, I don’t. I know I recognise you but I can’t get any details.”

“That’s ok. I’m Gwen.”

“Gwen… You… You’re married… And you have a baby… A girl.”

“That’s right. You’ve taken care of her before.”

“She’s… She likes music. Old fashioned music.”

“I blame Jack for that.” 

“Our boss.”

“Yep.”

“In a job that hunts aliens.”

“Sort of.”

“That’s what I can’t get my head around. Anything even a bit strange and I’d run away.”

“You’re braver than you think you are.”

Elise lifted her hand to look at the line into it that was keeping her floating. “I had a scar here before, didn’t I? Under the black lines I mean.”

“What?” Gwen lent over to look and where the white scar had been, was smooth skin with only a ghost of the deep etching that had been there only hours before. “That’s strange… Let me tell Owen.”

Owen had been listening from just outside the door. “I know.”

“Have you been there the whole time?”

“Yes.”

Elise gasped. “The whole time? You heard everything?”

“I did.” His grin was audible.

“Nooooo.” Her face went bright red as she pathetically tried to hide her face with limbs that were half asleep. 

The lights in the hub flickered as silence fell. The usual hum of the hub falling dead. It felt like hours as they waited for everything to start back up even though it took only seconds. Screens all around the hub flicked back on, displaying lines of code that only Tosh would understand. 

“So…” Jack began, looking to Tosh for confirmation that things were going as well as they seemed.

She looked up from the screen. “The rift manipulator’s reinitialised. The sensor array is online. Security is online.”

“Didn’t I tell you, there was nothing to worry about.” He beamed, heading to the door of the med bay. “Everyone alive in here?”

Elise looked up, eyes still blacked out, light coming from inside. “I saw something trying to fall through but it stopped before it got to this side.”

“Something? Elise you can let the powers rest now.”

“It looked like a building. It’s gone now.”

“That’s great but let it drop.” His eyes darted to Owen who seemed unusually calm about it. “Owen?”

“It’s ok. I think he’s concentrating on the level of something in my blood.”

“Ok, but can we talk about this? Keep the boss informed.”

Owen didn’t look up from what he was working on. “We were worried about this rift connection going too far.”

“Right.”

“I think I’ve found a way to suppress it for a while.”

Elise tilted her head. “What will that do?”

“Let you be human again, mostly. But that means we don’t have you to fall back on if the rift starts trying to tear itself open, or something tried to work its way out.”

Jack paused for a moment before calling from the door. “Everyone get in here.”

“What are you doing?”

“You’re right, so I’m putting it to a vote.” He moved to stand next to where Elise was sat. “Owens worked out how to suppress Elises rift ability but it could leave us in trouble if the worst does happen. I figure something this important should be a group decision.”

Tosh looked around at everyone. “Wait, this is Elis body. It should be her decision.”

“I vote to make it so I can’t accidentally turn the universe inside out.” Elise said, raising her left hand. 

Gwen figited. “Wouldn’t it bother you if something awful happened and you couldn’t reverse it?” 

“Of course it would, but I don’t want the awful thing to be me. I might not remember a lot right now but I know I could do more damage than I think I could fix.”

Owen ran his thumb over her fingers. “It won’t be permanent. That part of you won’t go anywhere but it’ll be contained. It’ll be quarantined. If the world’s ending it can be reversed but I don’t know what a sudden reversal will do and it will be locked away unless there is a world ending situation.”

“So, that means no going back in time if someone dies? No teleporting? What about the weevils?” Asked Ianto, looking both tired and anxious at the same time. 

“Exactly and we’ll have to be careful with the weevils. Communicating with them as freely as we have been could do damage. I hope we’ve put enough rules into place that we won’t need to talk to them anymore.” He sighed deeply. “I have no way of testing this. You shouldn’t be able to exist. The unlit cells kill anything else living they touch.”

Elise leaned forward and pressed her forehead against his. “That’s why it’s a vote. I say do it.”

“It can be reversed if necessary and if I was doing my job and following the rules this should have been done ten months ago. I vote to do it.” Jack said. “Gwen?”

Gwen composed herself before speaking. “As comforting as it is to have that lifeline if someone dies I’m the only one that really applies to anymore and I can’t put the universe at risk because I’m scared of death. I’m voting to do it.”

Ianto was next and he hated everyone looking at him. “I don’t like that this is untested, but if it can be reversed and it’s going to be better for everyone then I’ll vote to do it.” He glanced to Tosh, shifting attention.

“Eli if this is what you want then I support you. If you ever want to reverse it then I’ll fight for that too, ok? As long as you’re sure then my vote is to do it.”

Owen let out the breath he’d been holding. “Sounds like it’s unanimous.” He sat up straight and looked at the gathered group. “Then you lot need to bugger off out.”

Elise waved cheerfully as everyone left. “I’m ready when you are.”

“I’m not but ok.” Owen added the green solution to the line in her hand. 

“How long should it take?” 

“Count to ten.”

She slowly counted from one to ten, a warmth running from her hand and throughout her body, finishing behind her eyes. She looked down at her hand and found it free of black lines. Her brown eyes were clear of the inhuman darkness they’d been carrying. 

“Did it work?” She asked, gazing up into his eyes. 

“Yea… Yea, it did.”


End file.
